


The Girl From London

by Engines_of_ressistance



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: reylo au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-15
Updated: 2018-05-15
Packaged: 2019-05-07 07:43:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14666508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Engines_of_ressistance/pseuds/Engines_of_ressistance
Summary: Set in WW2, a young Rey is sent away by her parents and ends up living with the Solo family; wealthy Americans living in the English countryside. She quickly befriends Ben Solo, the son.





	The Girl From London

-Rey-  
She had never wanted to go. To leave her parents on the platform as the stupid train rolled away. She spent the whole trip staring out the window gloomily as the English country went by in a blur. She was now standing with a crowd of other children, all waiting for someone to take them somewhere they could be safe. Safe from the war.  
Rey was seven, and in her opinion quite mature. Her parents were poor and always bickering. Rey knew they hated her, that she was unwanted, but she forced herself to love them. She lied to herself day after day until she was convinced they were wonderful, loving parents. So it was with sadness she packed her small suitcase and a hollow, empty feeling in her stomach as the train sped further and further away from all she knew.  
The children were told to stand in orderly lines and wait to be selected. Adult after adult taking child after child away with them to who knows where. Rey realised the nicely dressed - well fed looking children were always picked first and she was not one of them. Her dress used to be white but it was so dirty you wouldn’t be able to tell and she rarely ate a full meal. She felt annoyed. It was hardly fair! Then she started to worry; what if she wasn’t taken at all? What if everybody left and she had nowhere else to go? No home, no family. She felt her eyes burn and blinked back tears. You mustn’t cry, she told herself. You mustn’t.  
“And who may you be?” Asked a kind voice with a strange accent.  
Rey jumped and looked up. In front of her was a short woman who looked neither old nor young, but somewhere in between. The woman had on a beautiful dark blue gown, her brown hair was up in an elegant bun, and her eyes sparkled with a hint of mischief.  
“R-Rey.” She stammered.  
The woman turned to the officer in charge; a bearded man with a thick accent.  
“I’ll take this one.” She said.  
“O’ course m’lady.” He said, handing her a clipboard. “Yeh just need ter fill ou’ this form.”  
The woman winked at Rey and her pen flew across the paper. Rey couldn’t help feeling trust in this odd, beautiful woman.  
“Thank you.” She said to the man.  
“Yer welcome, m’lady.” He said. “Yer free ter go.”

-Leia-  
Leia knew she wanted to take Rey home as soon as she had seen her; dirty clothed, battered suitcase, brown, three-bunned hair and all.  
They were now headed off in a cab and it was raining heavily.  
“My name!” Leia exclaimed after an extremely long silence. “I should probably tell you my name.”  
The girl looked at her and laughed, a pure sound that Leia was sure could make even the saddest person smile.  
“My name is Leia Solo, and you are Rey.” She said, sticking out her hand.  
Rey shook it, giggling.  
“So, tell me about yourself, Rey.”  
“Tell me about you first.” Rey replied with a sly grin.  
“Alright then, if you say so. I’m a senator from America and a used-to-be princess. I live in England with my husband, Han (who is off fighting as a general in the war), and my seventeen year old son, Ben. Speaking of Ben, I’m sure he’ll be delighted to meet you. He probably needs someone other than me, himself, and the cat to spend time with. Where was I? Ah, yes. We have a butler called Seethree Peeoh and and a cat called Artoo. I also have a brother called Luke who has long since disappeared... I do miss him dearly.” Leia trailed off, a sad expression creeping on to her kind face.  
“I’m sorry.” Rey said, somehow feeling responsible for Leia’s sadness. “Shall I tell you about me now?”  
“That would be nice dear.” Leia said with a sad smile.  
“Now that it comes to it, there’s not much at all to say about me.” Rey said.  
“Surely there must be something?” Leia responded, glad to take her mind off her brother. A brief pause. “How old are you?”  
“Seven.” The girl said proudly.  
“See, that’s something. Where are you from?”  
“I’m from London.”  
“Who are your parents?”

-Rey-  
Rey shook her head and stared at her feet. She didn’t want to talk about her parents. She didn’t want to think about her parents. But she did, and thinking about them lead to thinking about the trauma of leaving her home, and thinking about her home lead to thinking about the thick clouds of depression lying the streets of London. Tears welled up in her eyes again and she tried to blink them back to no success. She began to cry. Rey was ashamed of herself, so it was a surprise when Leia pulled her into a hug.  
“It’s okay.” She whispered, stroking Rey’s back soothingly. “I’m sure you miss them. This whole experience must be horrible for you, but your here now and you’re safe.”  
Rey cried until there were no tears left and Leia’s sleeve was wet. They turned a corner.  
“Ah,” said Leia, “we’ve almost arrived.”

-Ben-  
His mother had left early that afternoon to the station to take home one of the children being evacuated and he couldn’t help but wonder whom it may be. Would they be a girl or a boy? How old would they be? What would they look like? The possibilities were endless. It had been one hour since she left and he had decided to wait outside instead of pacing his room. He was probably worrying too much. Or thinking too much, now that he thought about it. Either way it would be nice to have a bit of fresh air. Then, of course, it had started drizzling. He stood for a while and let the light rain wash over his face, but then, all of a sudden, it had started bucketing down, and he ran as fast as he could for the cover of the veranda. He was soaked from hair to boot.  
Luckily they had a chest by the door, and in it was kept a towel among other things. Just as he had finished drying his hair, a white cat with one grey ear and a blue collar prowled towards him.  
“Artoo, what are you doing outside?” He said. “It’s pouring down with rain!”  
The cat mewed and batted the towel now being held loosely at his side. He crouched down and cocked his head. “Were you caught out in the rain as well?”  
The cat meowed irritably and shook its fur, spraying Ben with more water.  
He sat down cross-legged, scooped the thing up, and placed it in his lap. He could feel it shivering as he dried it with the towel. When he finished he scooped it up again and stood.  
“How did you get out here anyway?” He asked.  
The cat gave him a look that said, ‘What does it matter?’  
“Fair point.” He replied.  
He walked to the front door, let the cat inside and watched it scamper off down the main hallway.  
“Not even a thank you!” He muttered to himself. Talking to a cat, he thought with a wry smile, I must be going mad.  
He listened to the sound of the heavy rain on the roof and took a deep breath. He found it relaxing even if he wasn’t in the warm house. He heard distant thunder and wondered where his mother was. Fifteen more uneventful minutes passed and he was about to go back inside when he saw a car coming up the driveway.

-Rey-  
She looked out the window in awe as the car pulled up to Leia’s house. It was Victorian and quite large, standing tall. There was just something about it that made it look, well, homely. The cobbled driveway came round in a circle in front of the house and waiting for them under the veranda was a tall boy Rey guessed must be Ben. He was wearing a white shirt tucked into high black suit-pants and suspenders (the fashion of the day). He had wild thick black hair and a lean face with a soft jaw.  
He took two umbrellas from beside the door and walked out to greet them.  
“Thank you dear.” Leia said when Ben handed her an umbrella; Rey was hiding behind her, shivering. Leia turned to face her. “You don’t have to be scared, you’ll be safe here.”  
Rey looked over Leia’s shoulder at Ben, who was staring of into the distance. She had a feeling he trying not to intrude. See, she told herself, he’s nice like Leia. No need to be afraid. She couldn’t help it, she still was. She looked back at Leia.  
“He’s a gentle giant.” She whispered with a wink.  
Rey took a deep breath and emerged from behind Leia, holding tightly to her hand.

-Ben-  
Ben felt slightly hurt. The little girl was scared of him. It must be my height, he thought. She was small, dirty, and very thin; he wondered how poor her living conditions had been. Her hair was pulled back into three buns, something he had never seen before, but he liked it. It made her look even more innocent than she already did. He squatted so that he was looking up at her.  
“Hello there,” He said, smiling at her and sticking out his hand, “I’m Ben.”  
She looked surprised for a moment, but then smiled back and shook his hand, which was considerably larger than her own.  
“I’m Rey.” She said quietly.  
“Glad to meet you, Rey.”  
Ben stood again and started to make his way towards the house, when he heard the soft pitter-patter of feet on pavement and turned around to find Rey running towards him. He looked back at his mother who shrugged. I guess she does like me after all, he thought. He met her halfway.  
“You’re all wet!” He exclaimed. “I can dry you off when we get undercover if you want.”  
“Yes please.” She replied happily.  
Rey reached up and grabbed his hand, her skin cold against his. She was shivering in her thin dress and Ben made a mental note to tell Leia that Rey would need some new clothes. And a bath too, a warm one at that.


End file.
